Are you curious about a teaching and learning topic, and you would like someone else to look up the research on it? Ask the Fletcher Center coordinator at ljcornwell@hagerstowncc.edu.

Q: What’s more effective, lecturing with PowerPoint or without it?
“A common complaint I hear from students is that they do not like to be read to from a PowerPoint. They can read the material themselves. They want the instructor to teach. It might be interesting to know if there are any studies regarding the effectiveness of teaching with PowerPoint slides.” - Terri Bidle, Professor of Anatomy & Physiology

A: PowerPoint as commonly used has little or no impact on learning-but students like it.
Research studies have found that compared to the traditional format, lectures using PowerPoint neither improve nor harm student learning, grades, or content memory. However, students like PowerPoint; using it improves their ratings of lectures, instructor, and course. PowerPoint is most effective when slides contain few points and few words, especially when the assertion-evidence (A-E) approach is used. However, lecture with or without PowerPoint is less effective than active learning. The complete research review is available below.